Solar cell with reduced base diffusion area

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a solar cell has base and emitter diffusion regions formed on the back side. The emitter diffusion region is configured to collect minority charge carriers in the solar cell, while the base diffusion region is configured to collect majority charge carriers. The emitter diffusion region may be a continuous region separating the base diffusion regions. Each of the base diffusion regions may have a reduced area to decrease minority charge carrier recombination losses without substantially increasing series resistance losses due to lateral flow of majority charge carriers. Each of the base diffusion regions may have a dot shape, for example.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/159,292, filed on Jan. 20, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,573,764, whichis a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/185,718, filed on Jul.19, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,664,519, which is a continuation U.S.application Ser. No. 11/492,282, filed on Jul. 24, 2006, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,008,575. The just-mentioned disclosures are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to solar cells, and moreparticularly but not exclusively to solar cell structures.

2. Description of the Background Art

Solar cells are well known devices for converting solar radiation toelectrical energy. They may be fabricated on a semiconductor wafer usingsemiconductor processing technology. Generally speaking, a solar cellmay be fabricated by forming P-type and N-type diffusion regions in asilicon substrate. Solar radiation impinging on the solar cell createselectrons and holes that migrate to the diffusion regions, therebycreating voltage differentials between the diffusion regions. In a backside contact solar cell, both the diffusion regions and the metal gridscoupled to them are on the back side of the solar cell. The metal gridsallow an external electrical circuit to be coupled to and be powered bythe solar cell. Back side contact solar cells are also disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,053,083 and 4,927,770, which are both incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

Efficiency is an important characteristic of a solar cell as it isdirectly related to the solar cell's capability to generate power.Accordingly, techniques for increasing the efficiency of solar cells aregenerally desirable. The present invention discloses improved back sidecontact cell structures that allow for higher efficiency compared toconventional solar cells.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a solar cell has base and emitter diffusion regionsformed on the back side. The emitter diffusion region is configured tocollect minority charge carriers in the solar cell, while the basediffusion region is configured to collect majority charge carriers. Theemitter diffusion region may be a continuous region separating the basediffusion regions. Each of the base diffusion regions may have a reducedarea to decrease minority charge carrier recombination losses withoutsubstantially increasing series resistance losses due to lateral flow ofmajority charge carriers. Each of the base diffusion regions may have adot shape, for example.

These and other features of the present invention will be readilyapparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art upon reading theentirety of this disclosure, which includes the accompanying drawingsand claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of a back side contact solar cell,schematically illustrating lateral transport of charge carriers.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates vertical transport of charge carriersin the solar cell of FIG. 1 if the pitch of the diffusion regions wasmade smaller than the thickness of the wafer.

FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) show a cross-section view and a perspective view,respectively, of an example solar cell employed in concentrator systems.

FIG. 4 schematically shows an example solar cell with strip diffusionregions.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a solar cell in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIGS. 6(a), 6(b), 7(a), 7(b), 8(a), and 8(b) schematically showvariations of the solar cell of FIG. 5, in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention.

FIGS. 9(a)-9(e) show cross-sectional views of a solar cell beingfabricated in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The use of the same reference label in different drawings indicates thesame or like components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present disclosure, numerous specific details are provided, suchas examples of structures and fabrication steps, to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the invention. Persons of ordinary skillin the art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practicedwithout one or more of the specific details. In other instances,well-known details are not shown or described to avoid obscuring aspectsof the invention.

The present disclosure relates to the fabrication of solar cells. Solarcell fabrication processes are also disclosed in the followingcommonly-assigned disclosures, which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety: U.S. application Ser. No. 10/412,638,entitled “Improved Solar Cell and Method of Manufacture,” filed on Apr.10, 2003 by William P. Mulligan, Michael J. Cudzinovic, Thomas Pass,David Smith, Neil Kaminar, Keith McIntosh, and Richard M. Swanson; U.S.Publication No. 2004/0200520 (application Ser. No. 10/412,711), entitled“Metal Contact Structure For Solar Cell And Method Of Manufacture,”filed on Apr. 10, 2003 by William P. Mulligan, Michael J. Cudzinovic,Thomas Pass, David Smith, and Richard M. Swanson; and U.S. Pat. No.6,998,288 issued to Smith et al.

In normal operation, minority charge carriers are collected in theemitter diffusion regions of the solar cell and majority charge carriersare collected in the base diffusion regions. In the case of a back sidecontact solar cell with an N-type substrate, the minority chargecarriers are collected by the P-type diffusion region (the “emitterdiffusion region” in this case), and in turn are conducted through ametal grid to the positive terminal. The majority charge carriers arecollected by the N-type diffusion (the “base diffusion region” in thiscase), and in turn are conducted by a metal grid to the negativeterminal. Given that carrier generation mostly occurs on the front sideof the solar cell, both majority and minority charge carriers musttravel from the point of generation to the back surface to be collectedby the diffusion regions. This distance, also referred to as “carrierpath length”, is a key parameter in determining the performance of aback side contact solar cell.

The majority and minority charge carrier path lengths are dependant onthe pitch (i.e. spacing) of the diffusion regions on the back side ofthe solar cell. The larger the pitch, the further the charge carriersmust travel laterally from the point of generation to be collected. FIG.1 shows a cross-section of an example back side contact solar cell,schematically illustrating lateral transport of charge carriers. In theexample of FIG. 1, the solar cell comprises a wafer 101 having a basediffusion region 102 and an emitter diffusion region 103 on the backside thereof. A base metal finger 105 allows for external electricalconnection to the base diffusion region 102, while an emitter metalfinger 106 allows for external electrical connection to the emitterdiffusion region. An insulation layer 104 is formed over the diffusionregions. In the example of FIG. 1, the wafer 101 is an N-type siliconwafer having a thickness of about 0.200 mm, and the pitch of thediffusion regions is about 2.000 mm. The filled circles representelectrons, which are the majority charge carriers in this example. Theempty circles represent holes, which are the minority charge carriers inthis example. The dash lines represent charge carrier travel paths inthe wafer 101.

The lateral transport of minority and majority charge carriersintroduces two undesirable loss mechanisms to back side contact solarcells: (a) increased minority charge carrier recombination from lateralminority charge carrier transport and (b) increased series resistancefrom lateral majority charge carrier transport. Because the pitch isseveral times larger than thickness of the wafer in the example of FIG.1, the lateral transport of the charge carriers, and thus the lossesassociated with it, becomes significant.

If the pitch is several times smaller than the thickness of the wafer,the charge carrier transport is mostly one-dimensional (verticaltransport) and the aforementioned lateral loss mechanisms are minimized.This is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2, which shows verticaltransport of charge carriers in the solar cell of FIG. 1 if the pitch ofthe diffusion regions was made smaller than the thickness of the wafer101. The solar cells of FIGS. 1 and 2 are the same except for thethickness of the wafer 101 and the pitch of the diffusion regions. Inthe example of FIG. 2, the wafer 101 is 0.150 mm thick and the pitch ofthe diffusion regions is about 0.050 mm. The filled circles representelectrons, which are the majority charge carriers in this example. Theempty circles represent holes, which are the minority charge carriers inthis example. The dash lines represent the charge carrier travel pathsin the wafer 101. The other components of FIG. 2 have been previouslydiscussed with reference to FIG. 1.

Two types of high efficiency back side diffusion solar cell designs havebeen used to minimize losses within the solar cell. The first is thepoint diffusions typically used for concentrator systems (e.g., see “AnOptimization Study of Point-Contact Concentrator Solar Cells”, R. A.Sinton and R. M. Swanson, IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, 1987,pp 1201-1208). The second is the striped diffusions typically used forone-sun (non-concentrating) applications (e.g., see “7000High-efficiency Cells for a Dream”, P. J. Verlinden, R. M. Swanson andR. A. Crane, Progress in PhotoVoltaics, Vol2, 1994, p 143-152).

A concentrator system uses optics to capture solar energy shining on alarge area and then focuses that energy onto a smaller area where thesolar cell is located. FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), which are from the citedpublication by R. A. Sinton and R. M, Swanson, show a cross-section viewand a perspective view, respectively, of an example solar cell employedin concentrator systems. The typical wafer thickness in such pointdiffusion solar cells is about 150 microns. The point diffusion backjunction design is used in concentrator systems to minimize Augerrecombination associated with the diffusion, whilst maintaining shortmajority and minority charge carrier path lengths. Solar cells underconcentrated light operate at high injection levels, where thedominating carrier recombination mechanism is Auger recombination withinthe diffusions. To optimize performance, it is preferable to use a pointdiffusion design where the size of both the N-type and P-type diffusionregions, hence Auger recombination, is minimized. The small size of bothbase and emitter diffusion regions (e.g., about 10 microns) reducesrecombination losses. However, it is also important to keep the distancebetween diffusion regions small to reduce both the majority and minoritycharge carrier path lengths. It should also be noted that diffusionregions on the order of 10 microns, like those for point diffusiondesigns, involve relatively low throughput, expensive equipment notcompatible with the fabrication of low-cost solar cells.

Strip diffusion solar cells are used in non-concentrating applications,also referred to as “one-sun” or “flat-plate” systems. The stripdiffusion back junction design is used in non-concentrating applicationsto minimize surface recombination, whilst maintaining short majority andminority charge carrier path lengths. The dominant recombinationmechanism in one-sun back junction solar cells is the silicon interface,i.e. surface recombination. In a strip design, the entire back sidesurface of the solar cell has either N-type diffusion region or P-typediffusion region as this minimizes recombination. The minority andmajority charge carrier path lengths are minimized by keeping the pitchof the metal fingers as small as the alignment tolerances allow.

FIG. 4 schematically shows an example solar cell 400 with stripdiffusions. In the solar cell 400, an N-type diffusion region 403 and aP-type diffusion region 402 are strip, rectangular diffusion regionsformed on the back side of the solar cell 400 on an N-type silicon wafer401. A metal grid 406 contacts the N-type diffusion region 403 (basediffusion region in this example) and a metal grid 405 contacts theP-type diffusion region 402 (emitter diffusion region in this example)also on the back side of the solar cell 400.

Strip diffusion back junction solar cells for commercial one-sunapplications have been fabricated using relatively low cost patterningtechniques, such as screen-printing (e.g., see “The Choice of siliconwafer for the production of low-cost rear-contact solar cells”, K.McIntosh, M. Cudzinovic, D. Smith, W. Mulligan and R. Swanson,Proceedings of WCPEC-3, Osaka, Japan, May 11-18, 2003). Although morecost effective, these printing techniques have a much lower resolutionand alignment precision than photolithography, resulting in a pitch thatis significantly larger than the wafer thickness. The performance ofthese cells is limited by both minority charge carrier and majoritycharge carrier lateral transport losses.

With these low cost patterning techniques, the design of the strippattern requires a compromise between the lateral transport losses ofthe minority charge carriers and the lateral transport losses of themajority charge carriers. The cell designer must choose a finger pitchto balance (a) the minority charge carrier recombination resulting fromlateral transport of the minority charge carriers and (b) the seriesresistance losses resulting from lateral transport of the majoritycharge carriers. Typically, the result is that the emitter diffusionstrips (e.g., P-type diffusion region 402) are made larger than the basediffusion strips (e.g., N-type diffusion region 403) to allow forone-dimensional vertical flow of minority charge carriers over most ofthe cell. If the designer was to increase the pitch, the minority chargecarrier diffusion losses would decrease as the minority charge carriertransport is mostly vertical, but this would also increase the lateralpath of majority charge carriers, resulting in increased resistivelosses. If the designer was to reduce the pitch, the resistive losseswould decrease, but the effective path for the minority charge carrierswould increase, increasing minority charge carrier recombination losses.

Embodiments of the present invention reduce the adverse impact oftwo-dimensional effects by utilizing a back side junction solar cellstructure with reduced base diffusion region areas. In the followingexamples, the base diffusion regions are “dotted” in that each has a dotshape (e.g., circle, elliptical). It is to be noted that the dots mayalso be replaced with rectangular shapes. The dotted diffusion regionsmay also have other shapes without detracting from the merits of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a solar cell 500 in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. The solar cell 500 is configured tobe used in one sun (i.e., non-concentrator) applications. The solar cell500 includes base diffusion regions with reduced areas in the form ofdotted base diffusion regions 503. In the example of FIG. 5, the basediffusion regions 503 comprise N-type diffusion regions, while acontinuous emitter diffusion region 502 comprises a P-type diffusionregion; both diffusion regions are formed in an N-type silicon wafer501. A metal grid 506 is electrically coupled to the base diffusionregions 503 (e.g., to two or more base diffusion regions 503) and ametal grid 505 is electrically coupled to the continuous emitterdiffusion region 502. One of the metal grids 506 in FIG. 5 has beendrawn as transparent to show the non-rectangular shape (dot in thisexample) of the base diffusion regions 503. The metal grids 505 and 506may be interdigitated. An external electrical circuit may be coupled tothe metal grids 505 and 506 to receive electrical current from the solarcell 500. The solar cell 500 is a back side contact solar cell in thatthe diffusion regions 502 and 503, as well as the metal grids 506 and505, are formed on the back side of the solar cell 500. The surface ofthe wafer 501 opposite the diffusion regions 503 and 502 is the frontside of the solar cell 500, and faces the sun during normal operation.

As shown in FIG. 5, the dotted base diffusion design has a blanket rearemitter diffusion region 502 covering most of the back side surface ofthe solar cell 500, with periodic dots of base diffusion regions 503.That is, instead of alternating strips of base and emitter diffusionregions as in the strip design, the dotted base diffusion design has acontinuous emitter diffusion region, with a plurality of base diffusionregions being formed in regions in the back side of the solar cell notoccupied by the emitter diffusion region. The continuous emitterdiffusion region 502 surrounds two or more separate diffusion regions503. The interdigitated metal grids 506 and 505 connect the diffusionregions to their respective terminals, i.e. positive for the P-typediffusion region 502 and negative for the N-Type diffusion regions 503.One advantage of this design is that the transport of minority chargecarriers is mostly vertical (i.e. one-dimensional), minimizingrecombination losses. Given that the minority charge carrier losses havebeen substantially reduced, the design trade-off between minority andmajority charge carrier lateral transport is shifted significantlytowards smaller pitches and equal finger sizes. This results in thedesign also reducing the series resistance associated with lateraltransport of the majority charge carriers. It should also be noted thatthe reduction of minority charge carrier losses will be even moresubstantial when using low life-time silicon as the substrate. Thisopens the possibility of fabricating high efficiency back junction solarcells using cheaper, lower quality silicon (as, for example,multi-crystalline or low grade CZ silicon).

In the example of FIG. 5, because the base diffusion regions 503 areinterspersed and surrounded by the continuous emitter diffusion region502, the metal grids 506 of the base diffusion regions 503 run over theemitter diffusion regions. Care thus needs to be taken to ensure thatthe metal grids 506 are electrically insulated from the underlyingemitter diffusion 502 to prevent the introduction of a shunt loss. Thismay be accomplished with a defect free insulator layer between thenegative grid and the emitter diffusion. Openings formed in thisinsulator allow contact between the base diffusion regions 503 and themetal grid 506.

FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) schematically show a perspective view and a topview, respectively, of a solar cell 500A in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Solar cell 500A is a specificembodiment of the solar cell 500 shown in FIG. 5. Components 501, 502,503, 505, and 506 are thus the same as previously described withreference to FIG. 5. In the example of FIG. 6(a), an insulator layer 504is formed between the metal grids and the diffusion regions to preventelectrical shunts. Contact holes 508 allow a metal grid 506 toelectrically contact an underlying base diffusion region 503. Similarly,contact holes 507 allow a metal grid 505 to electrically contact anunderlying emitter diffusion region 502. FIG. 6(b) shows the top view ofthe solar cell 500A. In the example of FIG. 6(b), the contact holes 508are smaller than the base diffusion regions 503. The contact holes 507simply extend down from the metal grid 505 to the continuous emitterdiffusion region 502.

FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) schematically show a perspective view and a topview, respectively, of a solar cell 500B in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Solar cell 500B is a specificembodiment of the solar cell 500A shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b).Accordingly, components 501, 502, 503, 505, and 506 are thus the same asthose previously described with reference to FIG. 5, and components 504,507, and 508 are the same as those previously described with referenceto FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b). Essentially, the solar cell 500B is the same asthe solar cell 500A with the addition of insulator layers 701 betweenthe insulator layer 504 and the metal grids 506. The insulator layers701 extend over portions of the emitter region 502 to provide an extralayer of electrical insulation between the metal grids 506 and theemitter region 502. The insulator layers 701 are beneficial inapplication where the insulator layer 504 may have pinholes or otherimperfections that would result in the metal grids 506 being shorted tothe emitter diffusion region 502. FIG. 7(b) shows a top view of thesolar cell 500B. In the example of FIG. 7(b), the insulator layers 701are limited to areas under the metal grids 506. The insulator layers 701may also be formed under the metal grids 505 depending on theapplication.

The design rules (i.e. the minimum alignment tolerance and feature sizeallowed by a given patterning technology) dictate the size of the basediffusion region in both the strip and dotted base diffusion designs.For example, a patterning technology that allows printing of 200 micronscontact openings and a 200 micron layer-to-layer tolerance will dictatethat the size of the base diffusion region be around 600 microns—600micron wide strip for the standard design or 600 micron diameter for thedotted design. The dotted design reduces the base diffusion regioncoverage fraction whilst keeping the distance between base diffusionregions equal, thus decreasing minority charge carrier recombinationlosses without increasing series resistance losses associated with thelateral flow of the majority charge carriers. Alternatively, the pitchof the dotted diffusion regions can be reduced while keeping the basecoverage fraction identical, thus reducing the series resistance losseswithout increasing the minority charge carrier recombination associatedwith the lateral flow of the minority charge carriers above the basediffusion regions. An optimum configuration between those two boundswill depend on the particular solar cell. In any event, the dotteddiffusion design should result in higher efficiency than either thestrip diffusion design used in one-sun applications or the pointdiffusion design used in concentrator applications.

The performance of the dotted base diffusion design may be furtherenhanced by utilizing self-aligned contacts. The self-aligned contactinvolves patterning the base diffusion regions using the contact holesin an insulator layer used to electrically isolate the base diffusionmetal grids (e.g., metal grid 506) from the continuous emitter diffusionregion. A self-aligned contact process may reduce the size of a basediffusion region to the size of the contact hole. For example, using thesame design rules discussed above, the diameter of the base diffusionregions may be reduced from 600 microns to 200 microns. Given that thesize of the base diffusion regions approach the thickness of the wafer,the lateral transport of minority charge carriers is minimized andminority charge carriers are transported mostly vertically.

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) schematically show a perspective view and a topview, respectively, of a solar cell 500C in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Solar cell 500C is a specificembodiment of the solar cell 500A shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b). Thesolar cell 500C is the same as the solar cell 500A except that each ofits base diffusion region, now labeled as “503A”, is patterned using acontact hole 508. That is, in the solar cell 500C, the contact holes 508in the insulator layer, now labeled as “504A”, are used to pattern thebase diffusion regions 503A. This results in the base diffusion regions503A having the same diameter as the contact holes 508 (see also FIG.8(b)). All other components of the solar cells 500A and 500C areotherwise the same.

FIGS. 9(a)-9(e) show cross-sectional views of a solar cell 500B (seeFIGS. 7(a) and 7(b)) being fabricated in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. The following steps may be performed usingconventional semiconductor fabrication techniques.

In FIG. 9(a), a doped silicon dioxide layer 901 is formed on the surfaceof the substrate. The layer 901 is doped with the polarity of theemitter. In this example, where the substrate is an N-type silicon wafer501, the silicon dioxide layer 901 is doped with a P-type dopant, suchas boron (e.g. BSG). As will be more apparent below, dopants of thelayer 901 will be subsequently driven to the wafer 501 to form acontinuous emitter diffusion region therein. Openings 903 in the oxidelayer 901 leave room for another doped oxide layer (layer 902 in FIG.9(b)) to be used in forming interspersed dotted diffusion regionssurrounded by the continuous emitter diffusion region. Accordingly, theopenings 903 in the example of FIG. 9(a) have a dotted pattern.

In FIG. 9(b), a doped silicon dioxide layer 902 is formed on the layer901 and on exposed portions (i.e., openings 903) of the wafer 501. Thelayer 902 is doped with the polarity of the base diffusion regions. Inthis example, where the substrate is the N-type silicon wafer 501, thelayer 902 is doped with an N-type dopant, such as phosphorus (e.g.,PSG).

In FIG. 9(c), the dopants of oxide layers 901 and 902 are driven to thewafer 501 using a high-temperature diffusion process. This results inthe formation of a continuous emitter diffusion region 502 and aplurality of base diffusion regions 503 in the wafer 501 (see also FIGS.7(a) and 7(b)). The emitter diffusion region 502 is formed by thediffusion of the P-type dopant from the layer 901 to the wafer 501. Thebase diffusion regions 503 are formed by the diffusion of the N-typedopant from portions of the layer 902 in the openings 903 (see FIG. 9(a)). The layer 901 serves as a diffusion mask to prevent the N-typedopant from the layer 902 (see FIG. 9(b)) from diffusing into where theemitter diffusion region 502 is formed. The doped layers 901 and 902collectively serve as the insulator layer 504 after the diffusionprocess.

In FIG. 9(d), insulator layers 701 are formed over portions of theinsulator layer 504 that lie over the base diffusion regions 503 andportions of the emitter diffusion region 502. Insulator layers 701 arepreferably formed by screen-printing, ink-jet printing or other low-costprinting technique. Accordingly, insulator layers 701 may comprisepolyimide or other dielectric that may be formed by screen-printing orink-jet printing. Contact holes 508 are defined in the insulator layers701 to allow subsequently formed metal grids 506 to electrically contactthe base diffusion regions 503.

In FIG. 9(e), portions of the insulator layer 504 under the contactholes 508 are etched away. Likewise, portions of the insulator layer 504are etched away to form contact holes 507. Metal grids 506 are formedover the insulator layers 701 and through the contact holes 508 tocreate electrical connections between the metal grids 506 and the basediffusion regions 503. Metal grids 505 are formed over the insulatorlayer 504 and through the contact holes 507 to create electricalconnections between the metal grids 507 and the emitter diffusion region502.

The solar cell 500B, and the other solar cells disclosed herein, mayalso be fabricated using the fabrication steps disclosed incommonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,998,288, which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety. Other fabrication techniques forfabricating the solar cell structures disclosed herein may also be usedwithout detracting from the merits of the present invention.

While specific embodiments of the present invention have been provided,it is to be understood that these embodiments are for illustrationpurposes and not limiting. Many additional embodiments will be apparentto persons of ordinary skill in the art reading this disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A solar cell comprising: a first continuousdiffusion region at a back side of the solar cell; a second diffusionregion at the back side of the solar cell, the second diffusion regionhaving a polarity type that is different from that of the firstcontinuous diffusion region, wherein the second diffusion regioncontacts the first continuous diffusion region at a contact edge; afirst metal contact electrically coupled to the first continuousdiffusion region; a second metal contact electrically coupled to thesecond diffusion region, wherein the second metal contact is formed overthe first continuous diffusion region and the second diffusion region;and a first insulator between the second metal contact and the firstcontinuous diffusion region, the first insulator electrically insulatingthe first continuous diffusion region from the second metal contact, andthe first insulator extending continuously over and contacting: aportion of the first continuous diffusion region, a portion of thesecond diffusion region, and the contact edge.
 2. The solar cell ofclaim 1, wherein the first continuous diffusion region comprises acontinuous emitter diffusion region.
 3. The solar cell of claim 1,wherein the second diffusion region comprises a base diffusion region.4. The solar cell of claim 1, wherein the second diffusion regioncomprises a dotted base diffusion region.
 5. The solar cell of claim 1,further comprising: a second insulator between the first insulator andthe second metal contact.
 6. The solar cell of claim 1, wherein thefirst continuous diffusion region is doped with boron and the seconddiffusion region is doped with phosphorus.
 7. The solar cell of claim 1,wherein the first metal contact and second metal contact areinterdigitated.
 8. The solar cell of claim 1, further comprising anN-type silicon substrate.
 9. The solar cell of claim 1, wherein thefirst continuous diffusion region and the second diffusion region aredisposed in a substrate.
 10. A solar cell comprising: a continuousdiffusion region at a back side of the solar cell; a plurality ofdiffusion regions at the back side of the solar cell, each of theplurality of diffusion regions having a polarity type that is differentfrom that of the continuous diffusion region, wherein at least one ofthe plurality of diffusion regions contacts the first continuousdiffusion region at a contact edge; a first metal contact electricallycoupled to the first continuous diffusion region; a second metal contactelectrically coupled to at least one of the plurality of diffusionregions, wherein the second metal contact is formed over the continuousdiffusion region and the at least one of the plurality of diffusionregions; and a first insulator between the second metal contact and thecontinuous diffusion region, the first insulator electrically insulatingthe continuous diffusion region from the second metal contact, and thefirst insulator extending continuously over and contacting: a portion ofthe continuous diffusion region, a portion of the at least one of theplurality of diffusion regions, and the contact edge.
 11. The solar cellof claim 10, wherein the continuous diffusion region comprises acontinuous emitter diffusion region.
 12. The solar cell of claim 10,wherein the each of the plurality of diffusion regions comprises a basediffusion region.
 13. The solar cell of claim 10, wherein each of theplurality of diffusion regions comprises a dotted base diffusion region.14. The solar cell of claim 10, further comprising: a second insulatorbetween the first insulator and the second metal contact.
 15. The solarcell of claim 10, wherein the continuous diffusion region is doped withboron and each of the plurality of diffusion regions is doped withphosphorus.
 16. The solar cell of claim 10, wherein the first metalcontact and second metal contact are interdigitated.
 17. The solar cellof claim 10, further comprising an N-type silicon substrate.
 18. Thesolar cell of claim 10, wherein the continuous diffusion region and theplurality of diffusion regions are disposed in a substrate.
 19. A solarcell comprising: a first continuous diffusion region at a back side ofthe solar cell; a second diffusion region at the back side of the solarcell, the second diffusion region having a polarity type that isdifferent from that of the first continuous diffusion region, whereinthe second diffusion region contacts the first continuous diffusionregion at a contact edge; a first metal contact electrically coupled tothe first continuous diffusion region; a second metal contactelectrically coupled to the second diffusion region, wherein the secondmetal contact is formed over the first continuous diffusion region andthe second diffusion region; a first insulator between the second metalcontact and the first continuous diffusion region, the first insulatorelectrically insulating the first continuous diffusion region from thesecond metal contact, and the first insulator extending continuouslyover and contacting: a portion of the first continuous diffusion region,a portion of the second diffusion region, and the contact edge; and asecond insulator between the first insulator and the second metalcontact.
 20. The solar cell of claim 19, wherein the first continuousdiffusion region is doped with boron and the second diffusion region isdoped with phosphorus.